Kroussin 93 Explorer build

[dangerranger83]

Your killing all of us!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[kroussinoffroad]

FINE here ya go heres a little fix for ya

been bustin my butt lately on this rig but have yet to fully accomplish anything. i have a ton of things almost done and a ton of stuff started so in no time flat i should be able to start checkin stuff off the list.

here are some little teasers for ya.

modified upper coil bucket using Ruff Stuff specialties spring plates. this worked out like the cats meow. and only cost 33$ the spring now sits in the bucket nice and firmly and with the bolts you get they arent goin anywhere. 1'' fine thread grade 8 with a stover nut. like I said yeah that baby's not comin out unless i want it to. everything is just tacked in in this picture but it is now completely burned in place and i bent the original retainer ears down onto the top of the plate and lap welded them on as well.

Next is on the started project list is i templated my bumper up. a satelite office for a fab shop just opened up in the area so i'm gonna pay the 75 bucks and they will cut out all my metal on a plasma cam main center section will be 1/4'' and the outter will be 3/16s or 1/8th. not sure and neither will affect price just weight. thinkin im gonna go twords the 3/16's for strength. and prolly end up painting it wih some large flake metalic paint to further make it look like a boat. and nevermind the axle as it's just resting in place. but also noticable in the pic i have the trxus m/ts on her i'm gonna wheel both and drive both and see which one I like more

last but not least i found this nifty little covered spot behind the grill to mount my winch solenoid since it wont fit on the winch. did i mention how heavy and difficult this bumper is going to be to mount since it's gonna have to be done with the winch mounted. tehehe. i mounted the winch controller plug in flush in the inset part of the grill but the camera died before i could snap any picture's it turned out pretty stealthy and it look's as tho all the factory wires will reach without any issues.

 

[4.0B2]

3/16's of course.. mine is actually all 1/4" stuff... lol. its not a lot heavier honestly... and it was cheaper???? idk why...

 

[kroussinoffroad]

i really dont forsee this thing being light. i just want it to be managable. if i ever need to get to the winch on trips the bumper will have to be pulled (at least partially) and i really dont want to have to round op a group of people. 2 people is gonna be a given but only time will tell.

 

[disciplerocks]

Congrats on ORTOTM.

 

[kroussinoffroad]

thanks. thanks for voting as well

 

[escort_gts]

You should of made longer shock towers

Sent from my HTC using Tapatalk

 

[kroussinoffroad]

they might be in the works. will likely just use the 250 towers but i am tryin to get this thing done for a thanksgiving run. it is just 2 track gravel roads but i'm am still along way from even being close to be able to do that. for now i plan on just running the shocks that I had on the mazda as they bottomed just before tire met upper fender. and the spring was limiting the travel down before the shock would. So in theory i should be safe running these shocks for a LONG time. but we will see. if they really arent limiting my travel why get longer ones ? well besides the cool factor.

 

[dangerranger83]

I have been toying with the idea of making a new front bumper.

 

[kris97ranger]

id be finding a way to be able to use my winch without pulling the bumper.... thatd really suck. alot

 

[kroussinoffroad]

id be finding a way to be able to use my winch without pulling the bumper.... thatd really suck. alot

NO NO. the winch will be fully functional with the bumper on but if i have to get to wiring connections, cable connection, or any of that b.s. the bumper will have to be pulled . the winch will be nearly covered by the bumper. there will be a 4'' gap along the back near the grill for minor stuff and still reach the selector knob but that's about it.the lower plate (winch mount plate) goes all the way back to the core support. i thought about making the top center plate removable but plans as of now are to burn it completely in and make everything flush and silky smoth.

 

[kroussinoffroad]

o.k.enough with the teaser shots!

Front angle correction

i allready posted pictures of the modified upper mount but for the purpose of the build i'll repost it. the smaller coil for the ranger fit in the bucket nicely but when i put the larger spring (6" f-150 deaver) it didnt fit nearly as nicely combine that with some homebrew holddowns and it resulted in a couple of spit out springs on the pickup. it was breaking the small u-bolts originally installed and once i upsized them they were constantly disapering.

[http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/388727_10150899675825134_715295133_21333186_2014092055_n.jpg
so for the upper coil bucket i welded in the plates as posted above and they came with beef plate style holddowns i then gusseted that to back to the coil bucket.

for the lower mount the same ruff stuff plates were used and i moved the spring back a full 2+ inches to correct the angle of the spring. doing this meant i had to remove the shock mount that came on the brackets. but meant no gusseting would be needed. i also moved the pad slightly in to correct side to side angle as well.
this is a later pic as you can see the breaks are done as well here.

here is the coilin place nice and happy with weight on the spring the shock in the pic is just hanging out. you can see the upper hold down slightly. they give you 3/4" fine thread bolts with stovers. I dont think they are going anywhere now.

 

[kroussinoffroad]

o.k.enough with the teaser shots!

Front angle correction

i allready posted pictures of the modified upper mount but for the purpose of the build i'll repost it. the smaller coil for the ranger fit in the bucket nicely but when i put the larger spring (6" f-150 deaver) it didnt fit nearly as nicely combine that with some homebrew holddowns and it resulted in a couple of spit out springs on the pickup. it was breaking the small u-bolts originally installed and once i upsized them they were constantly disapering. which led to having to reinstall the upper coil mid trail and use whatever possiable to keep the upper spring in place.

so for the upper coil bucket i welded in the plates as posted above and they came with beef plate style holddowns i then gusseted that to back to the coil bucket.

for the lower mount the same ruff stuff plates were used and i moved the spring back a full 2+ inches to correct the angle of the spring. doing this meant i had to remove the shock mount that came on the brackets. but meant no gusseting would be needed. i also moved the pad slightly in to correct side to side angle as well.
this is a later pic as you can see the breaks are done as well here.

here is the coilin place nice and happy with weight on the spring the shock in the pic is just hanging out. you can see the upper hold down slightly. they give you 3/4" fine thread bolts with stovers. I dont think they are going anywhere now.

 

[kroussinoffroad]

TRAC-BAR

the trac bar bracket on the mazda had did a number on the frame prior to plating it so before i mangled the frame on the explorer i went ahead and plated it from the git-go. welded the trac bar bracket on using the same measurements off the mazda worked perfectly

This is an old pic of the axle bracket. it is slightly modified from this as it is now plated twords the passanger knuckle and has a gusset the to the tube as well

trac bar brace mocked up

FRONT SHOCKS:

when i moved the upper coil back i had to invade where the shock was previously mounted easy fix. i just welded tabs onto the back of the prior mount and mounted up the shock. i'm using the factory upper bayonett mount and skyjacker lift 6" lift shocks off of an XJ

REAR SHOCKS

using a cutoff wheel i cut the old shock mounts off the explorer spring plates. i gound them to fit the axle tube nicely. figure i have a max of 4.5" of uptravel before i get into bumpstops so i measured 4.5" of exposed shock shaft and burned the modified original shock bracket to the axle at the correct angle. and YEP factory shocks 4.5" of uptravel 6.5" of down.

 

[dangerranger83]

What size is your highlift that you had on the mazda i.e. 48 inches, 60 inches? I see me copying what you did to your bed so that I can mount the highlift the same way.